How is Public Relations different from Advertising?

Advertising allows you to control and repeat your message. PR invites credible sources to convey your message. The two can work together, not at odds.

There is a fine line, which is often blurry, between public relations, advertising and marketing. They all have the same goal which is designed to influence the perceptions, actions and behavior of a group of people.

This illustration highlights some of the differences:

“If the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign that says, ‘Circus Coming to Town this Weekend,’ that is advertising.
If you put the sign on an elephant’s back and walk him through town, that is promotion. If the elephant walks through the Mayor’s flowerbed, that is publicity. If you can get the Mayor to laugh about it, that is public relations. And if you planned the elephant’s walk, that is marketing.”